Apparatus for forming axle housings



Oct. 22, 1940.

W. E. SCHIRMER APPARATUS FOR FORMING AXLE HOUSINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May 28, 1937 M Q 1 i I M ml a m# 7 m. a

ZAJ l y M a m A ATTORNEY Oct. 22, 1940. w E, SCHlRMER 2,219,023

APPARATUS FOR FORMING AXLE HOUSINGS Original Filed May 28, 1937 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J'Z\ 4, 7 44 r7677 50- A TTORNEX Oct. 22, 1940. w. E. SCHIRMER APPARATUS FOR FORMING AXLE HOUSINGS Original Filed May 28, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. SCH/PME 1P M17526". BY C ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNlTED STATES APPARATUS FOR FORMING m HOUSINGS Walter E. Schirmer, Buchanan, Mich., aesignor to Clark Equipment Company, Buchanan, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Original application May 28, 1937, Serial No. 145,212. Divided and this application May 22, Y 1939, Serial No. 274,864

6 Claims.

- u of the extending arm portions to produce the desired wheel bearing supports.' Certain departures-from this practice have involved the pressed steel-type of housing in which pressed steel members arepreformed and welded together, or in which relatively short tubular blanks g 8 are expanded or belied .out at one end, while .the

remainderof the tube is swaged or drawn down to theproper diameter or wall thickness, the belied out portion forming a half of a circular banjo frame to which a corresponding end of a second tubular blank is then welded.

. The present invention contemplates broadly the provision of apparatus providing for the more or less continuousformation' of an axle housing from two tubular blanks which may be formed by rolling up flat sheet stock andwelding the longitudinal seams thereof. From the welding unit, the blankfispassed through suitable rolls which flatten one end thereof and decrease the I wall thickness of the flattened end. Thisproduces a lateral enlargement'of the flattened end, and the defining edges of this enlargement are then sheared 011 by suitable means to produce .two relatively thin parallel portions which are then expanded outwardly, and at the same time, the defining edges thereof are turned inwardly to form a semi-circular section having parallel radially inwardly directed peripheral flanges.

Two such blanks are then welded together to form the complete banjo type housing.

One of the advantages of the present inven-' tion resides in the. fact that the sheet stock from which the blank is formed may be of such thickness and area that the tubular blank produced therefrom has the proper arm diameter and wall thickness for sustaining the loads and stresses to which the housing may be subjected. This eliminates the necessity of providing for swaging, rolling or drawing upon the arm portions which has heretofore been necessary. The cost of pro- (c1. za-ssi ducing the housing in this manner is therefore materially reduced.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the flattening operation at one end of the blank reduces the thickness of the metal at this end toan extent such that when the flattened end is expanded into banjo shape, sufflcient metal is provided for producing the proper flange depth in the banjo, while at the same time the wall thickness throughout this section is suflicient to withstand the stresses to which this portion of the housing issubjected. Still another advantage of the present invention flows from the provision of apparatus arranged so that the blanks may be continuously operated upon from the initial stage of rolling up the flat sheet stock to the flnal stage of expanding the banjo section. This is accomplished in this invention by a minimum amount of handling, and can be carried out substantially entirely with machinery designed so that the operator need not handle the relatively heavy blanks as they pass from bne stage of the forming operation to another.

By the proper selection of the sheet stock therefor, I am enabled to form an axle housing having the proper arm diameters without the necessity of employing any swaging, rolling or drawing equipment to operate upon the portions of the arms intermediate the banjo section and the outer extremities thereof. Another advantage of the present invention resides in the provision of suitable means whereby the half banjo section and the tapered throat joining this sec- .tion to the arm constituting the remainder of the blank can be formed simultaneously, eliminating the necessity of separate flanging and throating operations, and this may be accomplished during the time that the metal is at a temperature facilitating its movement into the desired shape.'

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear moreiully from the fol-- lowing detailed descriptionwhich, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, will disclose to those skilled in the art the particular manner of carrying out my present invention.

In the drawings:

' Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank which be employed in the present invention;

Figure 2 shows the blank of Figure 1 after it has been formed into tubular shape, and prior to the welding operation;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the blank of Figure 2 taken on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view' 55 may showing the welding of the tube and the subsequent rolling operation;

Figure 5 shows the next step in the process of forming the blank;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the succeeding step in the blank-forming operation;

Figure 7 shows the blank after the expanding operation which forms the banjo section;

Figure 8 shows the joining of two blanks to form a banjo type housing;

Figure 9 shows one manner in which the extremity of the arm may be formed; a

Figure 10 shows an optional method of finishing the arm; and

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic view of the plant layout showing the apparatus: for producing the blank following the steps shown in detail in Figures 1 to 7.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, I have disclosed in Figure 1 a flat blank formed of steel stock of a thickness such as required in the arm portions of an axle housing, and of a length sufficient to form one half of a banjo type housing. This blank is rectangular in shape and is indicated generally by the reference numeral 5.

In carrying out the present invention the blanks 5 are successively fed through suitable rolling mills to form them into tubular form, such as shown at 6 in Figure 2, having'a V-shaped cleft I formed by the abutting edges, and from the rolling mill the blanks 8 are fed through a suitable welding unit 8 by means of the feed rolls. In this unit, the two edges are welded together by a fusion weld or the like, and in a preferred form of the invention I employ an atomic hydrogen welding unit for this purpose to produce the longitudinal seam weld l0. Suitable rolls are provided in conjunction with the welding unit to force the edges together under, pressure, and if desired, additional rolls may be employed for smoothing out the welded junction.

From the unit I the rolls l2 feed the welded blanks to a rack comprising the parallel track members l3 which receive the welded blank l4 and guide it toward the pairs of cooperating roll members I I and i6 mounted upon vertically spaced shafts l1 and it. The rolls ll are guide and supporting rolls which hold the cylindrical portion of the blank during the rolling operation performed by the cooperating pair of rolls II. It will be noted that the rolls II are provided with 9. cylindrical portion is of increased diameter with respect to the rolls l8, and having a tapered substantially frusto-conical portion ll merging into the cylindrical portion 22 which is of the same diameter as the rolls Ii. v

As-a result, the blank l4, when passed through the rolls II and It, has one end thereof flattened as indicated at 23, the flattened end being defined by wall sections which are increased in lateral area and decreased in wall thickness. The flattened portion 23 of the blank is joined to the tubular 3 portion l4 by means of the intermediate tapered portion 24. Preferably, the blank is flattened so that the longitudinal welded seam I4 is disposed centrally along one side of the flattened portion.

After the flattening operation, suitable pusher means, indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, forces the blank between a pair of feed rolls 2! which pull the blank laterally from the rack l3 and guide it between a second pair of rolls 26 shown in Figure 5, the rolls 2! being assisted by a plunger member 21 having a bifurcated end 28 which aligns the blank I4 within the rolls 2, and assists in moving the blank toward the shear blades III.

These blades are so positioned with respect to the longitudinally defining edges 32 of the flattened portion of the blank that as the blank moves therepast, these edges are sheared oif thereby providing two flat wall sections which are connected by the folded portion of the blank which formed the edges 32. The rolls 28 carry the blank into position upon suitable mandrel means 33 connected together on an endless conveyor or belt mechanism 34, suitably supported as by the rolls 35 upon a guide rail 18, and the blanks with the edges sheared of! are carried by the mandrels 34 into the furnace indicated generally at 31. The blanks are so disposed with respect to the furnace that the flattened ends 23 thereof are heated to a forging temperature for the banjo forming operation.

From thefurnace the blanks are carried to suitable mechanism such as shown in Figure 6 whereby the blank is held against longitudinal movement, and a spreader die having the pointed nose portion 42 is moved axially of the blank by means of the plunger 43 operated hydraulically or in any other suitable manner to spread apart the two flat wall sections 44 into theshape shown generally in Figure 6. This produces the initial spreading or expanding operation, and opens up the end of the blank to facilitate the final banjo forming operation shown in Figure 7.

The blank, after the wall sections 44 have been spread apart, is suitably positioned in a guide holder which rigidly supports the tubular portion l4 of the blank, and the male die member 48 is then forced into the spread end of the blank. This die member consists of a'substantially cylindrical nose portion 49, a tapered intermediate portion 50 which is of circular section adjacent the nose portion 49, and is of oval section increasing in its major dimension to the transversely disposed semi-cylindrical portion 52 of the die member which is of rectangular cross section and increases in its longitudinal extent up to the supporting portion of the die'member 48. When the male die member 48 has been moved to the position shown in Figure 7 by means of a suitable ram, either mechanically or hydraulically m ated, it is held in this position while the two cooperating die members 53 are moved normal to the die member 44 and toward the blank l4. Each of the die members 53 has a flrst die portion 54 which forms the radially inwardly extending deflning flanges of the banjo by folding over the lateral edges of the wall sections 44 of the blank onto the surface of the portion 52 of the die 44. The dies 53 also have the throat forming portions 55 which are shaped to cooperate with the intermediate portion 50 of the die member 48 to move metal inwardly about the surface of the die member 50, thereby forming a smooth junction between the cylindrical section formed by the portions 52 and 54 of the die members 48 and 53 and the cylindrical section of the remainder of the blank l4. Thus, the movement of the die members 53 toward each other completes the formation of the half banjo section with the defining flanges, and also forms the smooth tapered throat section which joins the half banjo section to the cylindrical portion of the blank.

The blank, after leaving the dies shown in Figure 7, is of the form shown in Figure 8 comprising the tubular arm portions 58, the throat portions 51 and the half banjo sections 58 having the defining parallel radially inwardly extending flanges 59. Two such sections may then be joined at the meeting edges of the banjo sections indicated at in Figure 8 by a fusion weld, flash welding or the like,

However, I preferably swage down the outer ends of the arm portions 56 prior to joining the two sections at the edges 60. The operations on the outer extremities of the arm portions may consist of swaging operations which produce an end formation such as shown in Figure 9. This construction is for a full floating type of axle housing in which the ends of the arms have been increased in wall thickness and decreased in diameter to form the bearing seat portions 62 and 63 for receiving the bearings of a suitable wheel member, and which are joined through the respective frusto-conical sections 64 and 65 to the arm portions of the housing. The two housing sections so formed are then joined together by the welded junctions 66 as indicated in Figure 9. If it is desired to form a passenger car type of axle housing, the extremities of the arm portions 56 are subjected to endwise upsetting operations, preferably in three or four stages, which produce the thickened radially extending flange 68 joined to the arm portion 56 through the enlarged annular bearing seat portions 69. The blanks are then joined together at the junctions 66 as previously described. It is of course obvious that the end forming operations may occur after the blanks have been joined together to complete the housing structure instead of being formed at the ends of the individual blanks prior to joining the two blanks together.

It is also to be understood that for certain types of housings of light weight construction. it may not be necessary to heat the flattened ends 23 of the blanks it prior to the banjo forming operation, although this is desirable in heavier housings for trucks and busses.

By selecting sheet stock of the proper wall thickness that is required for the arm portions of the housing and which is of dimensions suitable to produce the desired diameter for the arm portions, I am able to eliminate any swaging or drawing operations for reducing these arm sections. Also, by reason of the flattening operation on the end of the blank, the wall thickness of this portion of the blank is reduced while the lateral surface area is increased, whereby suflicient metal is available for producing the expanded banjo section, and the wall thickness still remains suflicient for the stresses imposed upon this section of the housing, which are substantially less than the stresses in the arm portions and outer extremities of the housing. The use of dies of the form shown in Figure '7 enables the formation of the half banjo section and throat in a single operation, which eliminates the throating operations heretofore found necessary in housings of this type.

It will also be noted that the operations from the forming of the tubular blank to the form- -ing of the banjo sections can be conducted in a continuous sequence, thus facilitating high speed production of housings of this type as a continuing cycle of operations. The movementof the blank can be controlled substantially automatically by means of suitable rolls and feed mechanisms through the forming mill, the welding unit, the flattening rolls, the shearing mechanism and the end heating operations so that a minimum amount of labor is expended in producing the housing.

While the invention has been described in connection with the formation of the blanks from flat sheet stock, it is obvious that seamless or drawn tubing may be employed, in which case the tube .forming and welding operations are eliminated and the blanks are initially subjected to the flattening operation shown in Figure 4.

I am aware that various changes in the arrangement and design of the apparatus employed may be made without departing from the underlying principles disclosed in the preferred form of the invention. I therefore do not intend to be limited except as defined by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming a half banjo section on the end of a tubular blank comprising a pair of rolls adapted to receive one end of said blank therebetween to flatten the same and increase the lateral surface of saidend, a pair of shear blades, means for passing said blank longitudinally between said blades to shear off the defining longitudinal edges of said flattened portion, a continuous conveyor means having spaced mandrellike members for receiving. and supporting the sheared blank and for passing said end thereof through a furnace, die means for opening said flattened end transversely of said edges, and a second set of die means acting internally and externally on the wall sections of said end to form the same into a half banjo section having radially inwardly directed parallel side flanges joined to the remainder of said blank by a smooth ta ered throat section.

2. Apparatus for forming a half banjo section on the flattened end of a tubular blank comprising a first die means for transversely spreading the flattened end walls apart, and secondary die means for forming said spread walls into a half banjo section, including a'male member having a semi-cylindrical rear portion and a tapered conical nose portion projecting transversely for wardly thereof into said spread apart walls of said blank, and a pair of cooperating female die members movable transversely of said male member over the external surface of said spread walls including flange forming portions cooperating with the rear portion of said male member and semi-cylindrical portions cooperating with the nose portion of said male member to form a semi-circular flanged end having a tapering frusto-conical throat joining the same to the blank.

3. Apparatus for forming .a half banjo section on the end of a tubular blank which has been flattened transversely at one end, comprising a member movable longitudinal into the end of said flattened portion to spread the walls thereof transversely of said blank, and final forming means comprising a first die member having a nose portion adapted to enter said end of said blank and having an intermediate smoothly tapered portion of oval cross-section terminating in a rearwardly facing semi-cylindrical portion having its axis disposed normal to the axis of said blank and of a width less than the external diameter of said blank, and secondary cooperating die members movable normal to said first die member and having arcuate channel-shaped recesses cooperating with said semi-cylindrical portion to form the wall section of said blank disposed therebetween into a half banjo section having parallel radially inwardly extending flanges spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the diameter of said blank, and having tapered U-shaped recesses cooperating with the intermediate portion of said first die member to form a smooth junction between the half banjo 4 section ofsaid blank and the cylindrical section of the remaining portion of said blank.

4. Apparatus ior forming a half banjo frame section on the end of a tubular blank comprising 6 a pair of rolls, means for passing said end of said blank transversely therethrough to flatten ,the same, a pair oi spaced cutters. means for moving said blank longitudinally therepast to shear off the folded edges of said flattened porlo tion, a furnace, conveyor means for moving said end of said blank transversely therethrough to heat the same, means for opening up the flattened end portion of the blank, and cooperating internal and external die means engaging the :5 opened end portion to form the same into a half banjo frame section joined to the remainder of the blank by a tapering throat portion.

5. Apparatus for forming half banjo frame sections at the ends of tubular blanks comprising 20 flattening rolls, means for feeding the ends of the blanks between said rolls to flatten the same, means for shearing off the edges of the flattened endportions upon longitudinal movement of said blanks after leaving the rolls, a conveyor having 25 mandrels moving normal to the nast-named movement of the blank, a furnace positioned to receive the tip ends of said mandrels, means for feeding said blanks from said shearing means into the mandrels with the flattened ends pro- ;lu' jecting from the tip ends of the mandrels whereby they are successively passed through said imnace, means movable longitudinally relative to the blanks for opening up the flattened end portions, and internal and external die means for forming said end portions into half banjo frame sections, the die means having relative movement normal to each other during the forming operations.

6. A plant arrangement including apparatus for forming axle housings of the banjo type comprising a welding unit, means for forming flatjecting toward said discharge means and adapted to have the tubular portions of said blanks telescope thereover to successively pick up said blanks as they leave said shearing means, a furnace located and arranged so that theflattened ends of said blank pass therethrough upon continued movement of said conveyor, and means located adjacent said furnace for spreading the flattened end portions apart and die forming the same into half banjo sections joined to the remainder oi the blank by a tapering throat portion.

WALTER E. SCHIRMER. 

